Padres' second-half story lines to watch

K.C. Alfred

As memorable as Petco Park’s turn as an All-Star Game host was, this tells you all you need to know about the state of baseball in San Diego: The Padres’ All-Star left-hander, Drew Pomeranz, couldn’t get through a festive week without changing uniforms.

That’s because the Padres are further off the pace in the NL West than they’ve been in four years and were at one point as many as 15 games under .500, their deepest standing since the fall of 2013. A resurging offense has allowed the club to play .500 ball since the start of June but early struggles have again made the second half of a season much more about positioning the Padres for next year and beyond than anything else.

Sound familiar?

With 11-plus weeks remaining in the season, beginning with a home series this weekend against the MLB-best Giants, here are seven storylines to watch:

A year after standing pat at the trade deadline, General Manager A.J. Preller began selling off assets before graduation season really hit its stride. He ate more than $30 million on the James Shields trade on June 4, traded away his lights-on closer before the start of this month and traded his left-handed ace Thursday for a low Single-A pitcher with upside. The Padres don’t appear to have any interest in trading All-Star 1B Wil Myers, but opted to cash in Pomeranz’s two years of control for 18-year-old Anderson Espinoza, the 19th-ranked prospect in Baseball America’s mid-season top-100 prospects list. Other potential trade pieces ahead of this year’s Aug. 1 deadline include C Derek Norris, INF Yangervis Solarte and OFs Melvin Upton Jr. and Matt Kemp, although a deal for Upton or Kemp would likely require Preller to eat more money.